Edward Sadomba

After three successful years at Al-Hilal, Sadomba briefly joined United Arab Emirates Pro League side Ittihad Kalba on a highly-lucrative loan deal at the start of the 2013 season before moving to Libya to join Al Ahly Benghazi and later Ahly Tripoli. The move from Al Ahly Benghazi to Ahly Tripoli was reportedly worth over $1 million and saw Sadomba earning around $40 000 a month during his two-year stay at the club.

Sadomba who at one time played in South Africa for lower division side Tembisa Classic, was tutored by Regis Dzenga’s Agatha Sheneti Academy at Mt Pleasant High School, graduating into the senior ranks with Dzenga’s now defunct Harare United. However, it was while at Dynamos Football Club that he made a name for himself after helping the Harare giants win the championship in 2007 after 10 years of waiting and also reach the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League competition in 2008. He then signed for Bidvest Wits in 2009 but due to foreign quota issues at the club, he never played and was immediately sent on loan to Sudanese giants Al-Hilal via Liga Muculmana of Mozambique.^[3]

Sadomba rejoined Sudanese club Al-Hilal in May 2016 almost three years after leaving the club in 2013. He was however released barely 6 months in his contract. Reports from several Sudanese Media outlets said the player was let go as the coach deemed him excess baggage.^[4]

Suing Al Ahli Tripoli

In July 2017, Sadomba successfully sued Al Ahli Tripoli at the Court of Arbitration for Sport which directed the Libyan club to pay him $450 000.

Sadomba had entered into a deal worth nearly $600 000 with Al Ahli which included his signing-on fees, bonuses, salaries and allowances. But the two parties later agreed on a termination of the contract as the club had been rendered inactive on their domestic front due to civil unrest in Libya. It was during that meeting for the mutual termination of the contract where it was agreed that Al Ahli would pay Sadomba $450 000.

Faced with the challenge of non-payment by the Libyans, Sadomba turned to the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe (FUZ) for assistance with the union’s president Desmond Maringwa arranging legal representation for the player both on the domestic front while Kudakwashe Chisekereni of Zvinavakobvu Law Chambers gave aid working in conjunction with one of FifPpro’s legal counsels Roy Vermeer. Sadomba had initially come unstuck when FIFA’s DRC dismissed his case, but with the help of FUZ leader Maringwa and Chisekereni, the player appealed to Court of Arbitration for Sport.^[5]

Milestone in African Football

Former Zimbabwe international, Edward Sadomba, is the fourth all-time highest scorer in the CAF inter-club tournaments, underlying his status as one of the finest forwards to grace the continent’s football fields. The former Dynamos skipper retired at the end of 2019, bringing the curtain down on a career which saw him also play in South Africa, Mozambique, Libya, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates.

He has 33 goals, in the CAF inter-club competitions, and only three other forwards — Angola’s Flavio (35 goals), Egyptian legend, Mahmoud Al-Khatib (37 goals) and Congolese marksman, Tresor Mputu (55 goals) — have scored more goals than Sadomba. It’s a measure of the impact that Sadomba made, on the continent, that he is now mentioned in such exclusive company, which includes Bibo, when the stars of the game are talked about.

The former DeMbare skipper is also the sixth joint all-time leading goal-scorer, in the CAF Champions League, with 18 goals from 43 games, after featuring in the tournament for six seasons. Remarkably, Sadomba is the only member of that top 10, in the Champions League all-time highest scorers, who did not win the title. In 2011, Sadomba became the first Zimbabwean player to be named by CAF among the best 10 players plying their trade on the continent. He was then playing for Sudanese giants Al Hilal. Sadomba was named on the shortlist for the 10 players, who the CAF experts believed had done enough, to be considered for the 2011 CAF Player of the Year (Based in Africa) award.^[6]

Social Responsibility

The former Zimbabwe and Dynamos striker hopes to use the vast knowledge he has accumulated during a glittering career spurning almost two decades to help fight poverty in Zimbabwe. He was to use his position of influence to help under-privileged but talented young sports people around the country realise their dreams and thereby escape from squalor. He was born and bred on the dusty streets of Mbare but through football rose to become one of the best strikers on the continent.

With his playing career now firmly behind, he set up his Excel Sports Consultants company to help young Zimbabweans realise their sporting potential. They offer career guidance lessons to athletes and have strong links globally offering local and international scholarships. Their aim is to fight poverty and drugs through sport and helping people excel through different sporting disciplines since people have different backgrounds.^[7]

Awards

• Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League winner (2007 with Dynamos Football Club)
• Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League runner up (2008 with Dynamos)
• Four Sudanese League titles, three Sudan League Cups
• CAF Champions League (2011) and CAF Confederation Cup (2012) Golden Boot winner with Al Hilal.^[8]

References